This disclosure relates to using silicon-based oscillators to provide a clock signal to electronic devices in high temperature, high pressure, or high shock environments.
This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art that may be related to various aspects of the present techniques, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions.
Tools used in a downhole environment often operate in extreme conditions, such as high temperature, high pressure, and/or high shock conditions. Such downhole tools include, for example, measurement-while-drilling (MWD) tools, logging-while-drilling (LWD) tools, wireline tools, coiled tubing tools, testing tools, completions tools, productions tools, or combinations thereof. In one example of a MWD system, a drill bit attached to a long string of drill pipe, generally referred to as the drill string, may be used to drill a borehole for an oil and/or gas well. In addition to the drill bit, the drill string may also include a variety of downhole tools to measure or log properties of the surrounding rock formation or the conditions in the borehole. In certain configurations, downhole tools may be used that are not part of a drill string. In either configuration, downhole tools often operate in extreme environments.
Various electrical systems have been developed to operate in extreme environments. These systems may include electrical components that operate using a clock signal. These systems, however, have many disadvantages. For example, a crystal oscillator with a hermetic seal used to produce a clock signal may operate accurately in high temperature environments, but may operate unreliably in high pressure environments. Likewise, a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) based oscillator used to produce a clock signal may operate unreliably in high temperature, high pressure environments.
In some systems, a clock signal may originate from a non-extreme environment and may be provided to electrical components operating in an extreme environment via cabling. However, providing a clock signal from a non-extreme environment to an extreme environment via cabling may be difficult due to a quantity of clock signals desired, a speed of the clock signals, and multiple electrical connections between the non-extreme environment and the extreme environment. For example, a large number of conductors may be used for a large number of clock signals. However, there may be insufficient space for the large number of conductors. Furthermore, high speed clock signals may be difficult to transmit over long cables. Moreover, multiple electrical connections may distort the clock signals and/or introduce noise.